Posts

Posted on

Old Madeleine’s Country Inn and Fighting Pit

This is the first of the maps chosen by patrons in the Great Vote. It’s been in my idea book since just after I started the website and I’m glad to see Old Madeleine’s turn finally come around. If you’re looking to make a pit stop for a little booze and violence in your campaign, maybe consider having your players drop by. As Old Madeleine herself always says, “There’s nothing better than sitting by a warm fire, eating a nice, home-cooked meal and watching two people fight to the death.”

So, next up is Brazenthrone’s underdark trading outpost. After that is last month’s Cartographic Congress winner, the harbor fortress of Torchguard. Then it’s back to Brazenthrone with… I haven’t decided yet. Probably either the Noble, Common or Anvil Quarter.

There’s an annotated version of this map and DM notes available to patrons.

Posted on

The Great Vote – Medium Category Results

The voting has ended for the medium category and, after the Great Garden was chosen in the first round, the runoff between the Aarakocra Village and the Airship of the Line ended in a tie. Which is good, because I really want to draw them both. So I’m declaring them both winners and drawing all three maps.

The polls are now open for the large-ish category, so if you’re a patron, have a look at your choices and cast your votes.

Posted on

Brazenthrone – The Pits of Justice

This is where Brazenthrone sends the few criminals whose crimes are deemed too severe for a flogging, yet not quite warranting execution (they do love a good flogging).

The prisoners are housed in a series of oubliettes, sleeping in the narrow alcoves around the sides. Those deemed especially naughty are placed in the isolation pits. Gates at the entrance and the guards’ area prevent access by potential escapees. This could be an interesting place to have your players escape from or stage a rescue.

Next up is Old Madeleine’s Inn and Fighting Pit, then we’re finishing off the lower part of Brazenthrone with the Underdark Trading Outpost. If you’re a patron, there’s still time to vote in the runoff between the Airship of the Line and the Aarakocra Village in the medium category (the vote ends later tonight). When it ends, the large-ish category vote will begin.

There’s an annotated version of this map and DM notes available to patrons.

Posted on

The Shattered Gates – The Last Remnant of an Ancient, Forgotten City

Normally, when I finish a map, I just open up my ideas notebook and pick another to do next. This time, as soon as I picked it up, I realized that all those ideas were up for a vote and I couldn’t draw them yet. So, I came up with this.

This is something I thought would be an interesting place to run an adventure. I didn’t have any particular sort of story in mind. Mainly I thought it’d make a unique lair for goblins, bandits or whoever else is getting their ass kicked this week. If you’re using it as an uninhabited ruin, here’s a version without the bridges.

After this is the Pits of Justice, then I think I’ll get started on Old Madeleine’s Inn and Fighting Pit. That’s an idea that’s been in the book for a long time and I’m really glad you guys picked it.

There are DM notes for this map available to patrons.

Posted on

Voting Results

Voting has closed for both the Great Vote’s small category and this month’s Cartographic Congress. For the Great Vote, the first winner was Old Madeleine’s Inn and Fighting Pit, then the Floating Market, which beat the Traveling Inn in the run-off. It looked like we might be doing two inns for a minute there, but I guess the later voters decided to mix it up. Coming in dead last was the Spelljammer, which, like wallet chains and huge jeans, were a lot more popular in the 90s.

In the Cartographic Congress, Senator Parker’s Coastal Castle was the winner after a run-off vote. Senator Maurice’s proposal of Bodiam Castle was the first time I’d heard of it and… wow. Yeah, that’s getting drawn at some point for sure. Senator HAL’s City of the Dead got some ideas stirring too. But that’s going to have to wait until the Great Vote maps are done. 

So, I’m going to finish work on the map I’m doing right now, then after that is Brazenthrone’s Pits of Justice, then the maps you guys voted for enter the queue. From there, we’ll be alternating between the Great Vote maps and Brazenthrone (plus the Cartographic Congress map once a month) until all 10 maps you choose are done.

The vote for the medium category has begun. If you’re a patron, head over to the patreon and participate in democracy.

Posted on

Delvers’ Rest – Brazenthrone’s Waystation on the Underdark Stairway

I’m giving out the DM notes for this map to everyone because I think they’re pretty good and I want to share them. I didn’t think I’d have too much to say about Delvers’ Rest at first, but then it occurred to me that this would probably be the foulest-smelling place in the city. I won’t explain the reason here, it’s in the notes if you’re curious.

The next map is something I thought was an interesting idea. Do you remember the Buried Tower? That’s not a map anyone was looking for before I drew it, but people seemed to like it and found ways to use it. The next map is a bit like that. It’s different, but I think you’ll like it. After that is the Pits of Justice– Brazenthrone’s prison– which is adjacent to Delvers’ Rest.

Anyway, here’s the version of Delvers’ Rest without the annotations. There’s an expanded annotated version with the rooms of the numbered buildings marked available to patrons.

Posted on

The Great Vote Has Begun

Voting has opened for the first of five votes to determine the maps you’ll see here over the next few months. We’re starting with the “Small” category. If you’re a patron, be sure to go cast your votes (multiple choices are allowed). If you’re not a patron and you’d like to have a voice in this, consider becoming one.

Posted on

The Discovery at the Thorn Hills Iron Mine

This is last month’s Cartographic Congress winner, based on the idea proposed by Senator Wulfric. It’s also the first map I’ve made with people in it. Dead people, sure, but still. By the way, if you don’t want dead bodies in your iron mine, there’s a corpse-free version here.

This map has a built-in story, but is left open-ended. Some miners were hitting a rock with a thing, the rock broke and they found a cavern with… well, that part is up to you.

Next up is Brazenthrone. Where are we going next? North to the Noble Quarter? South to the Anvil Quarter, Common Quarter or Grand Temple? No. We’re going down. First, the Underdark Waystation, then the Pits of Justice, then the Underdark Trading Outpost.

The first vote of the Great Vote will be in the next few days and will be open to all patrons. If you’d like a voice in what the next few months of maps will be, consider becoming a patron.

Posted on

The Great Vote: The Candidates

Here’s the list of map ideas that I mentioned in the last post. As I said, all patrons will be able to vote. I’ll probably start the first vote in a week to ten days from now. Read it over. For the next few months, I’ll still be at the helm, but you’re charting the course. Tell me where you want to go.

Anyway, here are the choices. Two maps will be chosen from each group.

EDIT: Some ideas are more fleshed out than others, so I don’t necessarily know the specifics of how they’ll look, but if you have any questions, feel free to ask.

Small

  1. Traveling Inn – An inn that floats up and down a river or coast. Sort of like a big houseboat.
  2. River Island Homestead – A little house with a little farm on a little island in a river.
  3. Spelljammer – A magic spaceship.
  4. Floating Market – This is a real thing. I’ll make a map of one.
  5. War Wagon – A giant carriage pulled (or maybe carried) by elephants.
  6. Gnomish Wizard’s Home – An odd little home in a tree.
  7. Old Madeleine’s Inn and Fighting Pit – Just what it sounds like. An inn with a fighting pit. Owned by a surprisingly lovely little old lady.
  8. The Head – A giant stone head with some rooms inside. Something weird to have your players stumble across in the middle of nowhere.
  9. Crannog – This is a crannog. Irish and Scottish people used to build them. I’ll draw one.

Medium

  1. Whiteshield Lodge – A waystation for traveling paladins.
  2. The Elven War Catamaran “Salvation of Dawn,” Flagship of the Elven Fleet – A catamaran is a ship with two hulls. This will be a very large, heavily-armed one. Probably single-masted with two sails. Elves are too elegant for square-riggers.
  3. Caravanserai – This is basically an inn for caravans located along the route of an imaginary Silk Road, with facilities for food, lodging, water, repairs and re-supply. This will be a middle-eastern design (as caravanserais generally were).
  4. Giant’s House – This will be a fairly normal, somewhat primitive house, except for the scale. First floor is the floor, second floor is the chair and the stools, third floor is the table, fourth floor is the cabinets…
  5. Overgrown Abandoned Village – The ruins of a village in the jungle, covered in plants and vines, with trees growing through buildings.
  6. Aarakocra Village – Aarakocra are avian humanoids. This will be a cliffside or mountain community of them, featuring various things unique to a community of people who can all fly.
  7. Slavers’ Outpost – Pretty self-explanatory. A place to go kill some bad people and burn to the ground.
  8. Airship of the Line – This is no Century Pelican. This is a giant, flying murderblimp. Has multiple gondolas connected by rope bridges and is bristling with weapons.
  9. The Great Garden – A huge, elaborate garden and ponds tended by druids or elves, with a huge, sacred tree. Might be walled.

Large-ish

  1. The Halls of Glory – An angelic temple fortress. Something that would be at home in Mount Celestia or elsewhere in the Upper Planes. Your paladin’s favorite place.
  2. Greenskin Rock – One or two sea stacks with a goblin or kobold community living in tunnels inside.
  3. Airship Waystation – A dock for airships up in the mountains. Someplace to eat, rest, resupply and change the wiper fluid.
  4. Horde Camp – An encampment of yurts. Could be an orcish horde, could just be Mongolians.
  5. Dragonriders’ Aerie – A place for dragons and people who ride them into battle. Extremely metal.
  6. Underwater Kuo-Toa Temple – A kuo-toa temple with features that only work underwater, like hallways that lead upward.
  7. Bleakhall – This is a strange, unnatural place, like you might find on the Negative Energy Plane or in some sort of hell. It probably won’t be any specific sort of place, just… weird. Dark. Alien. Lovecraftian.
  8. The Fallen Tower – A large, broken tower. Part of it remains standing, the rest lies on the ground in several large segments.

Large

  1. Fortified Oasis – The middle of the desert. The only water for days. And someone built a stone fortress around it. This will be a middle-eastern design.
  2. Legion Camp – A large army camp with a palisade, like the Roman legions would have built.
  3. Deep Road – A large section of dwarven underground road with tunnels and caverns leading off from it.
  4. Small but Densely-Populated Merchants’ Trade Port Island – One or two small islands packed with buildings and people and surrounded by docks.
  5. The Gate – A large fortress walling off a mountain pass.
  6. Red Rock – An orc settlement built into coastal cliffs. This is something I imagined while visiting the Cliffs of Moher.
  7. Hidden Valley – A secret community in a valley surrounded by mountains with a hidden entrance.
  8. The Chasm – A huge cleft in the Underdark with various caves, tombs, structures and tunnels leading off from it.

Huge

  1. Mont-Saint-Michel – This will be as accurate a map as possible of the fortified island monastery of Mont-Saint-Michel. A little something French to class the place up. I’ve already promised to do this at some point, so it will happen eventually, but we can do it now.
  2. Halfling Town – A halfling community, partly above ground and partly below. Homes and shops built into the sides of a big hill, as well as on top of and beneath it. I’ll resist the urge to call it Brazenstool.
  3. Driftport – An island made from a large cluster of ships lashed together.
  4. A Heavily Built-Up Bridge – A large bridge lined with shops and houses on both sides. Something like the Ponte Vecchio, Krämerbrücke or Pulteney Bridge.
  5. College of Magic – This will probably be more along the lines of Winterhold (from Skyrim) than Hogwarts, but it actually probably won’t be much like either.
  6. Something Like Petra – This is Petra, an ancient city carved into a rock face. This won’t be an actual map of Petra, but something very heavily inspired by it.
  7. Raja’s Palace – There’s not a lot of Indian-inspired stuff in fantasy. We can change that. I’m not sure of the details, but there will be elephants.
  8. The Deepspire – A fortress city in the seas of the Underdark, carved into the sides of a massive column of rock stretching from the sea floor to the roof of the cavern.